CAMPUS LIFE: Texas; A Course That Explores Fantasy Lands

Published: December 29, 1991

AUSTIN, Tex.—
The debauchery in the city of Clus rivals that of any college party. As the pleasure capital of the land of High Thefarie, seven owls preside over unbridled gambling, drinking and sex.

High Thefarie and Clus, of course, are fantasy lands. But to University of Texas students enrolled in the school's "Introduction to Parageography" course, such make-believe places come vividly alive.

"If everyone were studying or teaching this, I'd probably worry about it," said Douglass Parker, a classics professor, who in 1973 created the class in parageography, a word he coined to describe the study of imaginary places. "The thrust for me is having my students make something, to put their creativity to work."

Students enrolled in Professor Parker's course, one of the most popular classes at the university, examine how classical and modern authors describe fictional places. Although the class may not fit into the academic mainstream, it includes a vigorous reading schedule that ranges from Virgil's "Aeneid" and Herodotus's "Histories" to such contemporary books as J. R. R. Tolkien's "Fellowship of the Rings." Used in Final Exam

Professor Parker, who is also an improvisational jazz trombonist, created High Thefarie as an example of a fantasy world. He uses it as a basis for his final exam, which requires students to expand upon his ideas by creating new aspects of High Thefarie.

"It seems to me that people who are getting their undergraduate degrees have to deliberately stifle whatever creative faculties they may have," Professor Parker said. "You may not need creativity to get a job, but it is something that is important."

Students have been asked to explain the significance of several High Thefarie holidays that were not covered in Professor Parker's lectures or notes. They were expected to use their knowledge of other High Thefarie customs to create their own explanations of the holidays.

Students are expected to complete "eight labours," a series of essays that draw on their creativity. For one project, Kathy Graef created a language for Cat people, beings she imagined who are half-human and half-feline. Ideas Come Hard

"It was a lot of fun coming up with the ideas and really working at it," said Ms. Graef, of Newton, Mass., who recently received a bachelor's degree in classical archaeology. "But the hardest part of the class definitely was just coming up with those ideas."

Varis Carey, a senior who is studying mathematics, said the parageography course was "my fun class." As his final project, Mr. Carey created a medieval world that included the history, language and layout of six countries.

"My paper for this class was longer than my master's thesis will probably be," said Mr. Carey, who is from Austin, Tex. "I really got into it."